Little Ruth Red Witch
by Adalinea-Ives
Summary: Little Ruth wears a red riding-hood and visits her grandma with a basket, but she might not be carrying sweets, nor being a harmless little girl... This is my first story and a one shot :) I suck at summaries but I hope you'll enjoy ! Rating T for the violence


Little Ruth Red Witch

Once upon a time, there was a lovely family who had lived in the sweet town of Salem for generations. Their name was known by all as one of the founders and as the richest family of the city. They were all respected, admired and envied for both reasons. They were the Wilkins.

The eldest of them was Deliverance Wilkins, born Hazeltine before she got married to Albert Wilkins, mayor of the city long ago. She lived deep into the woods near town, since her beloved husband had died of a terrible disease ten years before.

She had a daughter, Ann Wilkins who lived in the old manor of the family in the very center of the town. She got married to Reverand John Putman and together they had a daughter named Ruth.

The rest of the family was established at a couple kilometers near Salem, in the vacation manor of the family.

The three of them lived a happy and wealthy life, until John mysteriously disappeared on the 31rst of October three years ago. In the eyes of Salem's population, Ann was the saddest widow of all and they prayed for her and her precious young daughter to find a solution to maintain their situation without having to perform a convenience union. Hopefully, Ann wouldn't have to. Indeed, she found her father's testament, in which he named her governess of Salem in his name and Ruth to be the next heir, and so they both kept Wilkins' last name.

The family ruled over the city with a strong but still soft hand. Everyone trusted and loved them. And so no one could have suspected who, nor what they really were. They were witches.

That day was going to put their secret in a dangerous posture. Ann had asked Ruth to bring some magical artefacts to her grandmother in the woods. Those objects were very precious ones and Ann had to sent her daughter to transport them, so no one would suspect anything.

« Do you understand what this is child ? » she said.

« I do Mother. »the young girl answered.

« And do you understand it has to remain secret ? » asked the worried looking mother again .

«Yes Mother, you can trust me, I won't talk to anyone on my way to grandmother's house. »

Ruth was a serious little girl who her family trusted sincerely. This is what led her to think that what she had to bring her granny was trully of the greatest importance.

Ann got on her knees in front of her daughter and looked deep into her eyes and said :

« Good. I have a gift for you. You need to take great care of it, as much as you will for the artefacts. » she had a serious look she has never had before and it fascinated Ruth as well as it scared her slightly .

« What is it Mother ? » she asked with curiousity

Her mom took one last look in her eyes, as if searching for something she needed to see in them before she gave her the object. She finally seemed to find it and got up before walking to another room. She came back holding some red fabric in her arms. It was a riding hood. Again, Ann leaned foward :

« The color is wonderful Mother, is this riding hood really for me ? » Ruth wondered

« Yes it is. But it is not a simple piece of bright red fabric sweet child. It is magical. When you get out of the house and enter the woods, I want you to put the hood on. Once you do, no human being will be able to see you, only magical creatures. This is precisely why you must keep the hood on your head, at least until you pass the door of your grandmoher's house. »

The insructions were clear and Ruth understood straight away. They both stood in front of each other and Ann finally handed the fabric to her daughter. She put it on slowly, still looking in her mother's eyes. The more fabric her smooth skin touched, the more power she could feel. It was bearly descriptible, but it felt really heavy. She thought it would be much lighter, but in fact, it felt like something was pressing onto her weak shoulders. She looked back at her mother with a wondering look in her eyes.

« -Can you feel it ? I knew it might have surprised you but I couldn't tell you or I wouldn't have known if it was going to work. If you hadn't felt it's heaviness, it would have meant you couldn't use it correctly. You can go now. , Ann finally said »

As soon as she stood before the big, high trees, she put the hood on her head and began to walk in a determined way. The small path led Ruth through the grass, trees and leaves covering the entire space. She found it perfectly beautiful, she had always been fascinated by the rough, yet peaceful and calm beauty of the woods. The smell of damp leaves and ground embraced her and she loved it. She definitely felt at home in there. As she admired the nature surrounding her, she began playing games, amusing herself jumping over the roots along the way. So, she didn't notice a

presence she could have felt from afar if she had been a more experienced witch. But she was still young and unaware and so she didn't see the man who was hiding behind her.

Ruppert Burmingham was making his way to Salem when he smelt a familiar scent. He had learn

to use certain abilities his condition had gifted him. He immediatly recognised the so particular scent of magic and followed the smell until he saw Ruth walking alone in the woods. At first, he wanted to ignore the scent and head back to his previous road. It was only a little girl after all and his senses weren't completly developed yet. But then, he saw the basket, and could feel the girl was transporting something special.

As she was about to jump over another root, she saw a poppy with a broken stem. She leaned towards the poor plant and placed her hands over it, until it was entirely covered. She closed her eyes and began whispering things the man couldn't hear. It sounded like her voice came from deep inside her and it didn't seem to be a human language. In fact, it was more like she was humming. He couldn't hear more of it, but he saw a translucid tear drop falling down the little girl's cheek and then in the small hole left between her hands. A bright red light escaped from her palms for a second before she took them off the flower and what he saw made him shiver.

Not only was the flower fully and perfectly grown, two other flowers had blossomed out of nowhere next to it. The young girl smiled, looking at them tenderly, and continued her way, still humming, but in a normal voice and a joyful song. The man had no doubt now, this girl was one of the witches he was looking for.

It had happened a few years ago. He was living in Shutesbury at that time, with his wife Mary. She was pregnant and about to give birth to the proof of their love. They couldn't be happier, but their happiness wasn't meant to last and it turned into ashes. One day when he came back home from his work, he found his love lying naked on the floor of their house. She was surrounded by black candles, and he could see a chalice filled with blood near her head. Her eyes were wide open, her breath was weak and she was crying her last forces out. He ran to her and fell to his knees, screaming with incomprehension. He then saw her belly split in two bloody parts, and the red liquid spreading all over the ground. As he screamed in horror again, Mary used her last breath to whisper : « They took our baby, save our baby boy. » Those had been her last words.

Ruppert stood on his feet violently, and with all the strength he had left, he ran, following the trails of blood. He made it to the field behind the house and saw people, wearing black cloaks. They were a group of ten, dancing lasciviously under the moon. He suddenly felt really afraid and unconfortable, when he spotted his baby in the arms of a person standing in the center of the others. Without thinking any further, he rushed in his direction, screaming furiously. He was about to reach his son, when his holder turned to face him. The time stopped for what Ruppert perceived as eternity, it was an old woman. She looked straight into his eyes and said in a deep voice : « _Stet pater debilitatum extraneus sit maledictus._ Let the father be hurt, the outsider be cursed. Make him what he is inside. »

A tear drop fell from the woman's eyes and he felt himself inhaled in nothingness, seeing his baby's face for the first and last time.

When he woke up, he was alone in the field. He tried to stand up, but found out his legs were gone. Every part of his human body had disappeared. Invaded by panic, he went to a puddle not far from him. He leaned his head upon it and met yellow animal eyes. He had transformed into a wolf for the first time.

It took him a week to realise, another to transform back to human form and a year to understand and control his curse, but he never recovered from the terrible loss he suffered that night.

The moment he understood witches were responsible for it all, he decide to take revenge on them and particularly on the ones who had performed the sacrifice of his loved ones. All these years he had sought the distinguishing feature and now he had found the translucid tear drop sign. He could finally avenge his son and his wife.

He began to approach her, walking slowly to prevent her from being afraid, but as he was about to reach her, he stopped. He was now close enough to see through the basket and confirm what he thought. This little witch was transporting magical stuff to one of her kind. He used all the power he had as a werewolf to smell and find out who she was heading to see. He took a deep breath and concentrated. Poppies, birds, insects of all sorts, a river, a small bridge and finally, a house hidden behind a bunch of sequoias, appeared in his mind. That was enough information and so he transformed before running as fast as he could to the place he had seen with his nose.

Once he arrived near the cabin, he transformed back to his human form again. He had to take a few seconds to recover, since it wasn't a very pleasant metamorphosis. He couldn't say it really hurt, it was only an uncomfortable process. He then grabbed his saddlebag behind his back and dived his hand in it, seeking for his iron stones. It was known for centuries now that iron was a weakness to witches, but these stones were even more efficient, as they created an impassable barrier for any magical creatures. All he had to do now, was make his way inside the house, and dispose them all around whoever was in there. He slowly walked closer to the cabin, hiding behind the bushes surrounding it and stopped at a window. He let his head pop out a few seconds in order to find out how many people were in and who they were, but what he saw was  
undoubtedly a more precise confirmation of what he thought. Standing in the very center of what seemed to be a living room, was an old woman he had seen that night years ago, holding his newborn son in her wicked arms. She was now in front of a table, charged with all kinds of herbs, jars filled with what looked like dead animals drowned in some thick dark blue liquid. Among all these damned and cursed objects, was a small black cauldron with something boiling inside it. Taking his eyes off the table, he focused on the witch again. Her mouth was moving imperceptibly and he used his animal skills again to hear what she was murmuring.

"- Prosperity and peace on my line, I command your dark protection in exchange for all those young boys sacrificed along the last century. _Primo ergo pater et filius venit extrema hodie fieri._

First holy father Putman, then came the son, unborn baby boy and today the last sacrifice shall be done."

So that was why his happiness had been taken away from him. These women needed peace and prosperity so they wasted his. It was too much for him to take and in a wave of fury and anger, he rushed into the house, breaking the window he was kneeling under. As pieces of glass exploded all over the room, he used his burning rage to run all around the source of his frenzy, dropping the iron stones in the meantime. She had no time to react and when he stopped his mad race, breathless and trying to restrain his upcoming transformation caused by his fury, he saw her burning her fists on the magical cage emprisoning her. She was screaming and shouting all kinds of hysterical curses at him, but none of it affected him.

"- Here we are devil's whore, quite far from peace now, aren't we ? " he snapped at her.

She did not answer, taking a step back in her narrow jail. She glared at the man, her stare then moved to something behind him and as he turned towards the door he was blinded by a bright red light. Putting his left hand above his eyes on his forehead, he saw the little girl he had earlier spied on, except she did not have the innoncent look anymore. She was floating a meter away from the ground, her small arms spread from her sides, her eyes glowing in red and surrounded by that dazzling red light.

"Release her and I shall spare your filthy life, do not and I shall pleasantly seperate your body from your head without even having to lay a finger on your dirty self." Her voice was horribly calm and smooth profering such threats and to defend himself against it, Ruppert turned into a wolf again, growling and showing his sharp teeth when he heard a loud and mad laugh coming from the old witch :

"You think she's gonna be afraid of you little dog ? She is my true heir and the one girl for whom we sacrificed your son. We even sacrificed her father and she was the one who killed him on her first Samhain. You better do as she told you to, or you shall have a slow and rather painful death."

The werewolf had a quick memory of the young girl he had seen earlier, healing a poppy in the woods and took a sight at the threatening witch in front of him. It truly was unbelievable how vile those creatures were. He was about to growl louder as an answer, but had no time for it. He got out of his reverie hearing a sob and then dozen others. He looked up at the young witch and saw a myriad of translucid tears flowing on her face and falling on the house's floor, some of them crossed the wood ground while others slid to the iron stones. The house began to tremble violently, shaking everything, dishes and books falling from their shelves, furniture falling heavily. The old witch soon was free but that was certainly not what worried him the most. Vines and branches were coming out from the floor and enclosing his paws, sides and head, before crushing them powerfully. As the binds tightened, he felt his neck cracking and he couldn't hold the groans of pain in his mouth. It took only a few more seconds for it to part from his body, but he felt it as if it had lasted an eternity before he finally couldn't see the red light anymore.

A few moments later, Ruth was pouring the man's blood into a phial and handed it to her grandmother, along with the basket and the artefacts it contained.

"- I am proud of you sweet child, you have now completed the rite to protect all of us. , Deliverance said, pride in her low old voice as she poured the thick liquid into the cauldron.

\- It was my duty and destiny as the first red witch of the family. I accomplished it with great honor and deserve only the reward those sacrifices were for. , Ruth answered, konwing it wouldn't be enough for her granny.

-You certainly have the sense of duty and honor, she laughed, but still, as much as a deadly powerful witch you are, you remain my sweet granddaughter !, she smiled tenderly while giving her a candy."

Ruth smiled back before they both leaned on top of the cauldron, letting two translucid tear drops falling into it. This is how the rite was completed and the mighty wicked witches of Salem, the Wilkins lived happily ever after.


End file.
